Episode 4: Why governance and administration in BTP?

Summary

This episode discusses the importance of governance and administration in SAP BTP (Business Technology Platform). As more services and applications move to the cloud, like Work Zone and Integration Suite, it's crucial to have a structured and clean BTP landscape. The challenges of limited experience, knowledge gaps, and poor structuring of sub-accounts are highlighted. The episode emphasizes best practices in subdomain naming, directory organization, and shared responsibilities between developers and administrators. It also touches on the impact of cost, security, and ownership when managing a BTP environment effectively.

Takeaways

• 😀 BTP adoption is growing rapidly with more services and applications moving to the platform.
• 😀 A good, clean, and structured BTP landscape is crucial as more services migrate to the platform.
• 😀 Many users lack experience and knowledge about starting, structuring, and maintaining BTP environments effectively.
• 😀 Although documentation exists, it often lacks best practices and recommendations for governance and administration in BTP.
• 😀 Poor structuring of subaccounts is a common issue, especially when developers create subaccounts for extensions.
• 😀 Governance in BTP requires clear ownership and responsibility, as different roles (e.g., developers, administrators) share duties.
• 😀 Security and cost management are often overlooked by both developers and administrators, leading to potential issues.
• 😀 The subdomain generation process in BTP can create subdomains that are not user-friendly, so it's better to create meaningful custom subdomains.
• 😀 Proper naming conventions for subdomains are essential to indicate the environment (e.g., development, production).
• 😀 Directory structures and subaccounts should be clearly organized to avoid confusion, particularly when working with multiple environments.
• 😀 Governance and administration in BTP require constant attention to ensure systems remain efficient, secure, and cost-effective.

Q & A

Why is governance and administration important in BTP?

Governance and administration are crucial in BTP because of the growing adoption of services, the increasing number of applications moving to the cloud, and the need for a structured landscape to manage these services effectively.

What factors are contributing to the importance of governance in BTP?

Factors include the growing adoption of more services in BTP, migration of on-premise services like SAP applications and systems, and the shift to more integrated environments like DataSphere and Business Warehouse (BW).

What challenges do organizations face when managing BTP environments?

Organizations struggle with a lack of experience and knowledge, difficulties in getting started, keeping the landscape clean, and adapting traditional on-premise management practices to the cloud environment.

What is a common issue with subaccount structuring in BTP?

A common issue is poor structuring, such as the improper creation of subaccounts by developers for extensions, which should instead be managed by administrators for better organization and responsibility allocation.

What role do administrators play in BTP governance?

Administrators are responsible for overseeing the governance of BTP environments, ensuring security, managing costs, and ensuring the proper structuring of subaccounts and services to avoid mistakes like poor naming conventions or lack of organization.

How does the subdomain generation work in BTP, and why is it important?

When creating a new subaccount, BTP automatically generates a subdomain based on the display name. It is important to customize this subdomain to ensure clarity and structure in the BTP environment, making it easier to identify the environment's purpose (e.g., development or production).

What is a potential issue with generated subdomains in BTP?

The default subdomain generated by BTP may not be meaningful or visually appealing, leading to confusion about the environment’s purpose. It’s recommended to customize the subdomain to provide context, such as indicating the environment type (development, production, etc.).

How does the lack of directories affect subaccount management?

Without directories, a plain list of subaccounts can become confusing, with environments like development, acceptance, and production appearing indistinguishable, making it hard to identify which environment is which.

What’s the consequence of not using meaningful subdomains in BTP?

Not using meaningful subdomains can lead to confusion, especially when multiple environments like development and production are listed together. This can make it difficult to manage and differentiate between various BTP services and their purposes.

What are some best practices for structuring subaccounts in BTP?

Best practices include using clear and meaningful subdomains, structuring subaccounts into directories (e.g., development, acceptance, production), and ensuring that naming conventions are consistent to prevent confusion and ensure easy navigation within BTP.